Packaging installation including container forming and container closing means, and transfer device therebetween



Dec. 1-0, 1968 PACKAGING INSTALLATION IN CLOSING MEANS,

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IN VENTOR HANS BECKER-'5 BY Arrokufls United States Patent 6 Claims Ci. 53-184) The present invention relates to a packaging machine combined with a draw press for producing the containers to be filled and closed by the machine, the machine having a lid station for punching out container lids and placing them on containers, and there being a transfer device between the draw press and the turntable of the packaging machine. The invention is particularly concerned with containers and lids made of aluminum foil.

In modern packaging plants for filling, lidding, and closing containers, there are required large numbers of containers which are fed by means of a turntable or a conveyor chain one after the other to the individual filling, lidding, and closing stations. When using containers of aluminum foil, there have heretofore generally been employed containers which were previously made elsewhere and stored in a magazine provided in the packaging installation and removed from the magazine during the operation of the apparatus. The proposal that the disadvantages inherent in the prefabrication of containers of aluminum foil (the disadvantages including the necessity of additional operating personnel, transportation of the preformed containers, and refilling of the magazines) be avoided by employing a draw press, used for the production of containers of aluminum foil, as an operating station in, or in the immediate vicinity of the packaging apparatus, does not constitute a satisfactory solution to the problem. One reason for this failure is that the orderly removal of the containers from the draw press and the orderly feeding of them into the packaging machine encounter ditficulties, particularly in the case of a machine which has a plurality of stations in which several containers are filled and sealed simultaneously during each operating cycle.

In order to eliminate these disadvantages, the present invention provides a packaging installation including a draw press for producing the containers, particularly packaging containers of aluminum foil, which are to be filled and closed by the installation. The packaging machine has a lid station at which container lids, particularly ones of aluminum foil, are produced and placed on the filled containers. A transfer device is located between the draw press and the turntable of the packaging machine, the transfer device consisting of a number of guide channels corresponding to the number of packaging containers simultaneously produced during each operation of the draw press. Each of said guide channels is arranged at one end to receive the containers formed by the draw press and its other end is arranged to deliver the packaging containers to the turntable of the packaging machine. The guide channels are tapered toward their lower ends. As a result, their center-to-center distance at the end which receives the containers corresponds to the center-to-center distance of the containers as they leave the forming die of the draw press, which is the same as the center-to-cenier distance of the container blanks. However, the center-tocenter distance of the guide channels at their other end which delivers the containers to the turntable is only slightly larger than the center-to-center distance of containers arranged directly alongside of each other. Furthermore, due to the fact that the guide channels are curved downward through about in the region of their delivery ends, they turn the initially upside down containers over.

One embodiment of the invention is shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in further detail below.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a turntable packaging machine combined with a draw press and a transfer device;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view showing the transfer device arranged between the draw press and the turntable of the packaging machine; and

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross-section through the trans fer device.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a packaging machine having a turntable 1 which is rotated in stepwise fashion and has pockets 2 to receive packaging containers .3. Arranged around the periphery of the table 1 are a number of stationary operating stations. These stations include a filling station 10, a lid applying station 11, a lid closure station 12, and a closed package removal station 13. In addition, a draw press 114 is located at the periphery of turntable 1.

By means of the draw press 14, blanks 18 are stamped out from a web of aluminum foil 16 which is withdrawn from a supply roll (not shown) and advanced stepwise, in the direction of the upwardly facing arrow in FIG. 2, by feed rollers 17. The draw press 14 then forms the blanks in a well-known .manner, into the packaging containers 3. The draw press 14 of the present example, is so designed that during each operating cycle three blanks 18 are simultaneously punched out and formed. The formed containers 3 each have a flanged edge 4 and are ejected, preferably by a blast of compressed air indicated by the arrow A in FIGURE 3 from that part of the draw die 15 of the draw press 14 which is located above the foil web 16 after the forming process terminates. As shown in FIG. 3, the formed containers are deposited upside down on the web 16.

Between the draw press 14 and the turntable 1 of the packaging machine, a transfer device 20 is provided. The transfer device consists of three guide channels 21 each of which has one end 22 in the vicinity of the draw press 14 so that the containers 3 can be pushed into the guide elements, for instance, by means of a blast of compressed air from one or more nozzles 23 in the draw press 24. The guide channels 21 are, as shown in FIG. 3, curved downward through about 180 at 24. At their other end 25, the guide channels 21 have a common fork 30 which extends parallel to the turntable 1, the tines 31 of which open in the direction of rotation of the turntable 1. As can be noted, in particular, from FIG. 2, the guide channels are so far apart at their end 22 and have such a center-to-center spacing, indicated by the letter a, that the containers 3, whose diameter due to the shaping process is smaller than the diameter of the blank cutouts 19, can readily be introduced into the channels. As they extend toward the turntable 1, however, the guide channels 21 taper or are constricted to a center-to-center spacing, indicated by the letter b, so that the containers 3 which have been delivered at the end 25 into the fork 30 lie directly alongside of each other.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the assembly of the guide channels 21 consists of a bottom plate 35, a top plate 36, and separating walls 37 between them. All of these parts are preferably formed of transparent plastic. Compressed air nozzles 26 in the guide channels 21 aid the movement of the packaging containers 3 through the channels.

A particular advantage of the transfer device described is obtained at the lid station 11, where in known manner the container lids are punched out of a web of aluminum foil coming from a supply roll (not shown) and placed on the containers 3 which have been previously filled at the station 10. As a result of the special shape of the guide channels 21, i.e., tapered toward their delivery ends 25, the containers 3 are not at the center-to-center spacing a of the blanks 19, but rather lie directly alongside of each other. Furthermore, the recesses 2 for the containers 3 in the turntable 1 are correspondingly dimensioned and arranged to receive the containers 3. Thus, the waste material remaining in the Web from which the lids are punched at the sttion 11 is reduced to a minimum.

This invention has been shown and described in preferred form only, and by Way of example, and many variations may be made in the invention which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as such limitations are included in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A packaging installation including container-forming means and container filling and closing means, said container-forming means comprising means for punching container blanks from a continuous web of packaging material, the blanks being punched from areas aligned longitudinally of the web, and means for simultaneousl forming a plurality of blanks into containers, each container having a diameter smaller than the diameter of its respective blank, the center-to-center spacing between said containers as they leave said forming means being equal to the center-to-center spacing of the larger blanks from which they were formed, said container filling and closing means including a lidding station comprising means for punching lids from a continuous web of lid material and placing said lids on said containers, said lid punching means simultaneously producing a number of lids equal to the number of containers produced during each container-forming operation, the center-to-center spacing between said lids being smaller than the center-to-center spacing between said container blanks, and a transfer device for conveying said containers from said forming means to said filling and closing means, said transfer device comprising a number of guide channels equal to the number of containers produced during each containerforming operation, one end of each channel being arranged to receive one of the containers and the other end being arranged to deposit the container at said filling and closing means, said guide channels being tapered so that 5 the center-to-center distance between them at said one end corresponds to the center-to-center spacing between the formed containers as they leave said forming means and the center-to-center spacing at said other end corresponds to the center-to-center distance between the lids. 1 2. A packaging installation as defined in claim 1 wherein said filling and closing means includes a rotatable turntable upon which said containers are deposited by said transfer device, and said transfer device includes a common fork at said other end of said guide channels, the tines of said fork facing in the direction of rotation of said turntable.

3. A packaging installation as defined in claim 1 including an air blast means in each guide channel for blowing air generally in the direction of movement of the containers through said guide channels.

4. A packaging installation as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide channels are formed by a common bottom plate, a common top plate, and separating walls between said plates.

5. A packaging installation as defined in claim 4 wherein said top and bottom plates are formed of transparent material.

6. A packaging installation as defined in claim 1 including air blast means for blowing said formed containers into said guide channels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1955 Keller 53-30 7/1965 Crane 5330 FOREIGN PATENTS 2/ 1962 Great Britain. 

1. A PACKAGING INSTALLATION INCLUDING CONTAINER-FORMING MEANS AND CONTAINER FILLING AND CLOSING MEANS, SAID CONTAINER-FORMING MEANS COMPRISING MEANS FOR PUNCHING CONTAINER BLANKS FROM A CONTINUOUS WEB OF PACKAGING MATERIAL, THE BLANKS BEING PUNCHED FROM AREAS ALIGNED LONGITUDINALLY OF THE WEB, AND MEANS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY FORMING A PLURALITY OF BLANKS INTO CONTAINERS, EACH CONTAINER HAVING A DIAMETER SMALLER THAN THE DIAMETER OF ITS RESPECTIVE BLANK, THE CENTER-TO-CENTER SPACING BETWEEN SAID CONTAINERS AS THEY LEAVE SAID FORMING MEANS BEING EQUAL TO THE CENTER-TO-CENTER SPACING OF THE LARGER BLANKS FROM WHICH THEY WERE FORMED, SAID CONTAINER FILLING AND CLOSING MEANS INCLUDING A LIDDING STATION COMPRISING MEANS FOR PUNCHING LIDS FROM A CONTINUOUS WEB OF LID PUNCHING PLACING SAID LIDS ON SAID CONTAINERS, SAID LID PUNCHING MEANS SIMULTANEOUSLY PRODUCING A NUMBER OF LIDS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF CONTAINERS PRODUCED DURING EACH CONTAINER-FORMING OPERATION, THE CENTER-TO-CENTER SPACING BETWEEN SAID LIDS BEING SMALLER THAN THE CENTER-TO-CENTER SPACING BETWEEN SAID CONTAINER BLANKS, AND A TRANSFER DEVICE FOR CONVEYING SAID CONTAINERS FROM SAID FORMING MEANS TO SAID FILLING AND CLOSING MEANS, SAID TRANSFER DEVICE COMPRISING A NUMBER OF GUIDE CHANNELS EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF CONTAINERS PRODUCED DURING EACH CONTAINERFORMING OPERATION, ONE END OF EACH CHANNEL BEING ARRANGED TO RECEIVE ONE OF THE CONTAINERS AND THE OTHER END BEING ARRANGED TO DEPOSIT THE CONTAINER AT SAID FILLING AND CLOSING MEANS, SAID GUIDE CHANNELS BEING TAPERED SO THAT THE CENTER-TO-CENTER DISTANCE BETWEEN THEM AT SAID ONE END CORRESPONDS TO THE CENTER-TO-CENTER SPACING BETWEEN THE FORMED CONTAINERS AS THEY LEAVE SAID FORMING MEANS AND THE CENTER-TO-CENTER SPACING AT SAID OTHER END CORRESPONDS TO THE CENTER-TO-CENTER DISTANCE BETWEEN THE LIDS. 